Yesterday afternoon, I had called Hart EMC (the electric company) to order the meter to be installed on the construction power pole. However, they were near closing when I called. I was told to call back this morning to speak with Angie, the customer service representative that Dave and I have been working with. When I called back this morning, I was told that she was on vacation all week. So, I spoke with another woman to order the meter. Because Angie was on vacation, an unexpected situation occurred.
The woman I was speaking with (let's call her Ann) asked me if Hart EMC had been out to "pull the lines," which would be evident by a coiled group of electrical lines tacked to the power pole that existed on our lot.
I said, "no."
Ann told me that first a crew would need to come out and measure how much line we needed. Next, a crew would come out to install it. I asked her how long that would take. She responded that it would take 7-10 business day. Panic sets into my voice.
I informed her that Angie had told me to call back the day prior to needing the meter installed. We went back and forth as I tried to explain to her that the construction power pole would be set up within 10-ft of the current power pole (so in my mind, no need to measure anything).
Ann informed me that she'd try to get a lineman who was in the area to come out today to scope out the situation. I informed her that power was needed no later than Friday afternoon as a work crew would need power on Monday morning.
She called back and said someone would be at our site around 11 AM. My brain is releasing "panic adrenaline" as I know we need power, soon. I can just envision a 10-day delay to the work schedule because I was misinformed a couple of weeks ago.
The time is now about 10:00 AM and Brad and his work crew have yet to arrive. So, I phoned Brad to see if he would be here by 11 AM when Hart EMC was going to arrive. Brad informed me that they were delayed because Chris' (footing crewman) son's dog had gotten out last night and he was up late chasing it.
Those of you who know us realize we can empathize with Chris' search because once our dog (Kalli) gets out, it's a 3-hour wait for her to "decide" to come home.
(OK, back to the building project at hand.) Brad thought he and the crew would arrive a little after 11 AM. I explained the Hart EMC situation to him, and Brad was as confused as I was as to why a crew would have to "pull lines" or measure anything at all.
Dave and I settled in to wait for everyone to arrive!
Our View from the "Bleachers"
The Hart EMC lineman arrived shortly after 11 AM. We straightened out the fiasco. Seems Ann was looking at a work order in our file that stated we wanted to have the permanent power pole moved. We had not ordered that move; however, we had asked to have an estimate to do so. The power pole is located approximately 20-ft to the right of our left property line. We considered moving it 20-ft to the left so that it would be on our left property line. When Hart EMC quoted between $700 and $800 to move the pole, we decided we could live with viewing a power pole on our property!
The Hart EMC lineman stated that no measuring was required and that he would approve the work order for the meter to be installed on the construction power pole (to be erected later today). He stated that the meter would be installed either Thursday or Friday. Phew. Schedule-slip averted.
Brad arrived around 11:30 AM and shortly thereafter, the crew that is to dig the footings arrived and set to work post-haste.
Getting Started (Brad in white shirt. Chris in blue shirt.)
Drawing Footings Lines (Chris and Jesus pondering the plans)
Digging Footings (Chris)
Setting Rebar (Jesus)
The weather today was really great in that there was cloud cover and the heat was not quite as bad as normal. However, the humidity was on the rise. Dave and I had been there for several hours, so it was time to make our way to some "facilities." We went to Dad's restaurant, which is located at our exit ramp and had some pretty good burgers for lunch.
We drove back to the site and Dave decided to move our "observation station" to the top of the hill on our right property line. We brought three chairs (one for each of us and one for Brad). We settled in to watch the digging for a while and we having a good chat, when all of a sudden the rains came. We scrambled to get back to the car. Brad toted our chairs to the car for us (he's such a gentleman). Chris was scrambling to cover his electronic level from the rain (see the device on the tripod in the picture above).
At that point, Dave and I decided we'd head for home. We were sure that the cement would not be poured today as it was nearly 3 PM. Chris was still digging the footing, and Jesus was still setting in the rebar.
As we left, Brad said the schedule would be that the cement blocks would be delivered on Friday. Monday the cement blocks for the foundation walls would be built. And, Wednesday (July 29) the framing would commence.
Of course, with the rain, we were convinced that framing would be delayed. But, much to our surprise, when we arrived home I spoke with Brad and he told me that the footings had been poured and we were on schedule. Imagine our delight!
Dave and I decided not to return to the property until Monday (July 27). We can be there early on Monday and snap a photo of the poured footing before the foundation crew covers all of the footings with cement blocks. An 80-mile round-trip drive to the property in a car that only gets 12 MPG is expensive. So, we are trying to restrict our drives to days when there is actually "action" to observe.
Note: Best laid plans changed. We ended up driving out to the property the next day. Stay tuned for what drove us to revisit the lot.
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